Government’s tactical move or carelessness
Vital matters related to holding of fair elections still remain to be resolved between the government and the opposition on the one hand and between government and the ECP on the other. In the first category comes the agreement on a caretaker setup. The opposition has already sent three names to the government. The list comprises two retired judges of the SC and a veteran politician from Sindh who during the Zia era played a significant role in the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy. The only response from the government side so far is a cynical remark from the information minister who has called the list either a joke or a mischief. As time passes the possibility of a consensus between the politicians is fast receding. If a move is not made urgently in the direction, the issue may land up at the table of the ECP. The politicians would thus be surrendering their turf to the commission which despite its prestige of its chief remains an unelected body.
Differences still persist between the government and the ECP on the questionnaire related to the nomination paper. The ECP had sent the proposed nomination form to the president for approval on 20 February. It was made clear that the scrutiny of the nomination papers within the prescribed limit required it to send the proposed form to the printing press by 11 March. The law ministry however failed to respond for two weeks. The objections received from the law minister on 8 March were rejected by the ECP which asked the government to seek the president’s approval before 11 March. As this was not done the ECP sent the nomination form as prepared by it to the printing press. Many had differed with some of the questions in the nomination papers and expected the government to get them removed through parleys within the election timeframe which it failed to do. The government was highly active to plead the cause of a handful of dual nationality holders. A failure on its part to move at the same speed to make arrangements for millions of overseas Pakistanis to vote in the countries where they live has led to practically disensfrachising the community.
The government moved efficiently to get its proposal for a new province in South Punjab passed from the parliament despite knowing that it could not be implemented in the foreseeable future. It was however negligent on activising the National Assembly committees on Law and Justice and Parliamentary Affairs to finalise the ECP’s recommendations regarding changes in election laws. This raises the question whether the neglect on the part of the government was a calculated move or simply an outcome of carelessness.